It is no surprise that healthcare environments including hospitals, care facilities and doctors surgeries are among the most important places to control bacteria and viruses. However, advice is often out dated or insufficient and confusing as to how exactly to adopt best practice for hand hygiene. The number one cause of infection in hospitals is poor hand hygiene and busy healthcare workers need the simplest yet most effective solution to carry out this vital yet routine practice. NHS guidelines state the following in relation to alcohol based hand sanitiser. Alcohol hand rub (alcohol gel or foam) Alcohol hand rub can...

Originally posted: august 25, 2014 This week's blog post was kindly provided by Robert N. Phalen, Ph.D. and Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH). Dermatitis is no fun. I should know because I have dealt with it personally. Twice. The first time was when I worked in the automotive industry and I noticed my fingernails were getting pitted and thinner. It turned out that one of the solvents or oils we worked with was damaging my cuticles and I was told that I had developed contact dermatitis. The solution…I wore washable cotton gloves, avoided skin contact with all chemicals, and the problem went...

Norovirus, also known as winter vomiting disease, is on the rise again according to a report in the BMJ. A familiar set of warnings about ward closures and avoiding visits to patients in hospital was also issued, but why does this one virus cause the NHS such difficulty? While norovirus does occur year-round, there is a winter peak in cases that clashes with the winter rush on the NHS. The symptoms of norovirus – diarrhoea and vomiting – typically last a day or two. While you may spend those days wishing you were dead, the chances of long-term harm from...

﻿Keith Redway, University of Westminster We are always told how important it is to wash our hands to stop the spread of infections. What many people don’t realise, however, is that the way we dry our hands after washing them could have just as big an effect on our health. Spreading diseases In a public washroom, the choice is usually between a paper (or textile) towel and an electric hand dryer, which could be either a warm-air dryer or a jet-air dryer. Sounds innocent enough, but according to some studies, all of the methods can infect you and other people...

Alcohol based products will contain one of two active ingredients; alcohol or isopropanol, a form of secondary alcohol. Both are effective antiseptic products effective in killing germs and bacteria and they share many of the same properties, their main differences being on a molecular level. One distinct property that they both share is that they are highly flammable. Minimum recommended alcohol content is still over 62%! For maximum effectiveness hand sanitisers should contain 60% – 95% alcohol for maximum efficacy; a high concentration which has long raised concerns in both the media and the health care community. Hospitals and other...